Entries from June 2012 ↓

Wreck-It Ralph is an animated film where the bad-guy character in a classic game named Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) decides he’s tired of playing the role of a bad guy. He takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a game-hopping journey across the arcade but brings trouble to his entire arcade after sneaking into a new first-person shooter game and unleashing a deadly enemy. Directed by Rich Moore and starring the voices of John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch, Wreck-It Ralph opens on November 2, 2012.

Alex awakes from his nightmare about them stranded in Africa and gotten old and suggests they should go to Monte Carlo to find the Penguins and fly them back to New York City.

In Monte Carlo, the Penguins and chimpanzees, Mason and Phil disguise as the King of Versailles and is winning in gambling until Alex and gang crashes the casino after Gloria’s weight proves to be too much for their “Mission Impossible” attempt to reach the Penguins.

As a result, the hotel security calls Animal Control officer Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand) to catch the animals. Instead of catching the animals, DuBois wants their heads to hang on her office’s wall. Thereafter, a high-speed chase between DuBois and the animals ensue, just like a James Bond’s movie. Although in the end, Alex and gang manage to escape from DuBois, their plane crashes into the train yard.

In order to escape from the authorities, the four claim they are circus animals to convince Vitaly the Tiger (Bryan Cranston), Stefano the sea lion (Martin Short) and Gia the jaguar (Jessica Chastain) to let them into their train. Before the gang is further questioned, the Penguins use the money win from the casino to purchase the circus themselves.

The zoo animals learn from Stefano that they are performing in Rome and London, where they plan to impress a promoter to get them on an American tour. But, after learning the circus fails to perform in Rome, Alex convinces the circus animals to perform Cirque du Soleil in order to win the heart of the American promoter. As they train together, the zoo animals and the circus animals become closer.

In London, Alex convinces Vitaly to stay when he is about to leave. Vitaly’s stunt is done perfectly after Alex suggested him to use conditioner shampoo. When the promoter is impressed and gave the troupe the contract to America, Alex confesses that he and his friends just want get home to New York City, disappointing the circus animals.

Alex and his friends returns to Central Park Zoo only to be captured by DuBois, only to be confiscated by the zoo staff. Despite being darted, Julien manages to reach the circus to inform them of DuBois. The circus gang arrives just in time to stop DuBois from killing Alex. In the end, Alex and friends decide to join the circus on a permanent basis while DuBois and her men finds themselves on a cargo box bound for Madagascar.

Overall, Madagascar 3 is a colorful, funny and fun-filled family entertainment that will satiate both kids and adults alike.

My rating: 7 out of 10

Verdict: Fun-filled film for all. This is how Johnny English will look like if it is acted by animals.

In the distant past, a humanoid alien arrives on Earth and drinks a dark liquid. Its body broke apart and falls into a waterfall, planting the Earth with its DNA.

In 2089, archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her husband Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) unearth a star map which they interpret as an invitation from the makers of humanity or the "Engineers". Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), the aging founder of Weyland Corporation, funds the creation of the spacecraft Prometheus to the distant moon LV-223. Prometheus is captained by Janek (Idris Elba) and led by mission director Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron). The ship’s crew travels for 2 years in stasis whilst the android David (Michael Fassbender) monitors them.

Prometheus arrives the destination in 2093 and a team is dispatched to explore a cave. The team finds several cylinders, the corpse of a giant alien and a monolithic statue of a humanoid head. David discreetly takes one of the cylinders with him. An approaching storm causes the crew to return to Prometheus promptly, leaving crew members Milburn (Rafe Spall) and Fified (Sean Harris) stranded in the cave.

Shaw analyses and discovers the Engineer’s DNA matches human’s DNA. At the same time, David intentionally infects Holloway with a dark liquid found from the cylinder. When Shaw and Holloway have sex, we all have a pretty good idea what’s going to happen next.

Fifield and Milburn are involved in an attack by translucent snake-like creatures. Milburn is killed when one of the creatures sneaks into his body and exits from his mouth while corrosive fluid from one of the creatures melts Fifield’s helmet. The crew returns when the storm subsides only to find Milburn’s corpse.

David who’s on his own, discovers a room containing an Engineer in stasis and a star map pointing to Earth. Holloway is rushed back to the ship when his infection becomes worse but Vickers refuses his entry and immolates him with a flamethrower at his own request. When Shaw discovers she is pregnant with an alien offspring, she uses an automated surgery table to cut it from her abdomen, thus surviving another ordeal.

Weyland is seen to have been in stasis on board and explains to Shaw he intends to prevent old age by asking the Engineers for a cure. From the mapping of the cave, Janek concludes that the cave-like structure is actually Engineer military spacecraft. Weyland and several crew members return to awake the Engineer. As David speaks to the Engineer, the humanoid alien responds by decapitating his head and killing Weyland and the rest. Shaw manages to escape once again surviving another tough ordeal as the Engineer activates the spaceship. David’s head informs Janek that the Engineer is heading to Earth to release the liquid on Earth, and thus Janek crashes Prometheus into the Engineer’s spacecraft. Shaw goes back to the remaining of Prometheus only to find the ‘Octopus-like’ alien offspring has grown to a gigantic alien. When the Engineer who survives the crash returns to attack Shaw, she releases the alien onto the Engineer and escapes yet again. At first the Engineer has the strength to withhold the alien but when it thrusts a tentacle down the Engineer’s throat, it instantly kills him.

Shaw picks up David’s head and his body and with his help with his body remaining separated, she launches another Engineer spaceship and heads towards the Engineers’ homeworld in order to find out the main reason why they created humanity and wanted to destroy it later.

An alien creature with jet-black skin and an elongated skull is seen bursts out of the Engineer’s chest.

Overall, Prometheus is made to tell the origin of Alien and is meant to be a bigger picture but despite that the storyline and the plot are mediocre, despite outstanding performance by Noomi Rapace’s Shaw and Michael Fassbender’s David.

My rating: 7 out of 10

Verdict: The film is dark and solemn and despite the amazing landscape and background, the storytelling is poor and the actions are scarce, just like the barren land.

The Words is a romantic drama about a writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man’s work. Directed by Brian Klugman and starring Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid, Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons, Olivia Wilde, The Words opens on September 21, 2012.

The Great Gatsby is based on the 1925 great American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald of the same name. a romantic drama about Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). He is drawn into Gatsby’s circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy. Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton, The Great Gatsby opens on December 25, 2012.